Roston Chase and Shai Hope powered West Indies to a winning start in the first match of their One-Day International cricket series, beating hosts Afghanistan by seven wickets with 21 balls remaining.
They combined for a third wicket stand of 163 runs and West Indies reached 197 for 3 in 46.3 overs, successfully overhauling Afghanistan’s 194 off 45.2 at Lucknow, India.
Hope batted through the innings, scoring 77 off 133 balls, including five fours. His opening partner Evin Lewis fell with 12 runs on and when Hetmyer went for just three, West Indies were 25 for 2 after 7.4 overs.
Player of the match Chase, who also took two wickets for 13 runs, joined him and the pair set about dismantling the Afghanistan bowling, adding 137 runs off the second powerplay. He fell on 94 after smacking 11 fours with the target nine runs away. Nicholas Pooran joined Hope to see the team home.
Chase said the pitch offered assistance and “it was my day”.
“[The] Captain [Kieron Pollard] told me a couple of days before the game that I should look to bat deep and bat like I do in a Test if I get a chance early, [and I] did just that.”
Mujeeb Ur Rahman took two wickets for 33 runs.
Earlier, Rahmat Shah (61) and Ikram Alikhu (58) made their own third-wicket stand of 111 to pace the Afghan innings. Asghar Afghan chipped in with 35, but Afghanistan lost the last four wickets for only three runs.
Jason Holder and debutant Romario Shepherd also took two wickets each.
Summarised scores:
Afghanistan 194 in 45.2 overs (Rahmat Shah 61, Ikram Alikhu 58, Asghar Afghan 35, Gulbadin Naib 17, Jason Holder 2-21, Roston chase 2-31, Romario Shepherd 2-32). West Indies 197-3 in 46.3 overs (Roston Chase 94, Shai Hope 77; Mujeeb Ur Rahman 2-33). West Indies won by seven wickets with seven balls remaining. (SAT)
